They’ve Confiscated Our Aisle Numbers

Hey TFR it’s me again. I work at a print shop within a larger office retail chain. Yes, that one. I’m extremely frustrated with management this week.

Our General Manager was transferred a few months ago to a different store in the area, so they gave us a new one. With it came a few changes, and our District Manager and a few other higher-ups have been visiting more frequently to tweak changes and see how the new GM is doing. All the changes in layout and things like that have been small and a general improvement. Until now.

I actually didn’t notice it at first. I came to work, same as usual, but every time I gave someone an aisle number they would come back to my counter a few minutes later and say “Uhh, where again?”. Finally I looked up and realized:

Our aisles no longer had numbers on them.

Thinking it was a short-term error (i.e., they were replacing the numbers, moving them, etc) I put it off and started giving directions by what was next to the item instead of by aisle numbers. By the end of the night, when the problem wasn’t resolved, I took my (favorite) Assistant Manager aside and asked her wtf was up with the lack of aisle numbers. She sighed.

Apparently, our new GM had a novel idea to raise survey stats. He would take away the aisle numbers, which forces the floor associates to walk WITH the customer to the product, increasing chances of customer relation and upselling opportunities. On paper, it looks like an okay-ish idea. In practice, it is an AWFUL idea.

Our store is already fairly short staffed, especially because we have extended holiday hours, so we’re spread pretty thin. Obviously there’s not going to be a perfect 1 floor associate:1 customer ratio. This decision also comes right as Christmas shopping reaches its frenzy. Many of the customers I’ve helped have never been to the store before, since we live in a rather large tourist beach town. None of the other stores in the area have employed our “genius marketing tactic”. And finally, as part of my job, I’m stuck behind a counter. I CAN’T walk customers to the product.

So far all this has done is given all of us a huge headache. If you take anything away from this rant, it should be that all management NEEDS to be more in touch with the needs of its employees.

TL;DR: My GM took all the aisle numbers off the aisles, thinking it would help us bond more with our customers. All it’s done is given us a giant headache right as our busiest season approaches. Sigh.

I used to have a boss who would always turn down my ideas no matter what data I presented him. His reason was always the same, "My gut says it's a bad idea." After many missed opportunities because of his gut I was feeling pretty fed up. One day I made another obvious suggestion and he and his gut shot me done again. In front of the rest of our team I said, "It occurs to me that your gut is a fucking idiot." Then I got up and left. A week later he eagerly signed my transfer request. A few months after that he was demoted out of management because of his decision making. The next day he walked.ouy and quit. He was in his late 40s and this was the only job he ever had. I'm sure his gut made that decision too.

Speaking of idiotic, I once work at a sub shop and the power went out during the lunch rush. My GM had the bright idea of go ahead and make everyone’s food while the equipment is still hot and they can pay when the power comes back on and the registers are back up. Everyone left and got a free meal that day!

Did your GM ever think that maybe their might be more customers than employees, and that the wait time for things might be increased if the customer could no longer be given an aisle number to walk to, and instead had to wait for an employee to personally walk to them?! This is a perfect example of Manglement in action!

As a customer who uses mobility aids, I hate when a employee isn't able to give verbal directions and has to show me, I walk so slowly and I prefer shopping with headphones, not making small chat with someone who isn't paid nearly enough to turtle shuffle next to me for 10 minutes so I can find the vinegar. (Why is it next to the jam!? It used to be next to cooking oil and salad dressings)

Aisle numbers make a better experience for everyone. If a customer wants to be walked to the item they'll ask "can you just show me?" after you give them the location verbally.

Most of my customers were like you... My district manager tried to yell at me in front of the customers about it. My loyal customers told her "you are a fucking idiot for thinking this guy does a bad job"

Because flavored (not maple or breakfast) syrups are kept with the coffee. Since most people use chocolate syrup for their ice cream as well, might as well put all the ice cream toppings in the same area.-Is the logic.

However, why chocolate powder/syrup, and hot cocoa mix is kept next to the coffee? I don't have an answer.

Where I work, we are supposed to walk each customer to the product they are looking for. I often have to pay attention and slow down so the customer can keep up with me. (usually they are old ladies who cannot walk very fast). Sometimes, I am busy, or with another customer, or whomever I am helping doesn't want to leave the area they are in at the moment. They will insist that I just tell them an aisle number--which I do. Having aisle numbers does not stop me from walking as many customers as possible to the item they are looking for. It does make my life much easier when a customer doesn't want to be walked to the item.

Our psychic powers only work if the customer has a mind to read5 points · 12 months ago

Don't be silly. His gut told him it was a good idea and that everyone else was wrong for doubting him and The Almighty Gut. All hail the great Gut, Wisest of us All! We must nourish it and feed it, not just with food, but with compliments, that it may shed wisdom upon our tiny brains forevermore!...

Wait, where was I going with that? ...Oh yeah. That manager was a fucking moron, and go was his gut.

Wow. Just... wow. Another tale that pisses me off to read. I can't imagine how anyone would put up with that. It doesn't even look good on paper to me. Another case of management only looking at the metrics, no practical experience on the 'front lines'. Real easy to pass down policy like this when you're not the one standing behind the counter.

I try not to be so petty (though not that hard if I'm being honest) but I really hope your GM catches hell for this. Wouldn't want to see anybody fired or busted down to a lower position - it's not exactly the worst idea I've ever heard, and it seems like this person's heart was in the right place - but I'm hard pressed to think of anything less customer-friendly than taking down the aisle numbers. When I go to the store I like to navigate myself. Maybe in a specialty retail outlet, say a hobby shop or something, I'll be happy for some assistance, but not a damn office supply store.

Reading this sort of nonsense makes me all the more grateful I work in a less formal, smaller retail setting. My coworkers and management may as well be equals, and we all share in the frustration when the DM or anybody higher on the corporate ladder starts making unreasonable demands.

I work in a major grocery store. It's even one of the large store versions of the chain. Six months ago our store went through a center store reset. They removed the organic/natural foods section and integrated all of those products into the rest of the store. In doing that nearly everything moved. At best an item moved to the other side of the aisle or down the aisle. At worst (like the coffee) it's in a whole new aisle that didn't exist before.

To give you an idea of store layout, our aisles run from front of store to back with a central cross aisle going through the middle. Before the reset both halves of, for example, aisle 3 would be aisle 3. Now aisle 3 is the back half of the aisle. The front half is technically aisle 43, but there's no aisle sign that says 43. It's fine if both halves of the aisle more or less line up, we just say the pop/soda is in the front part of aisle 3. During the reset they physically moved some aisles and added one or two, hence aisles that didn't previously exist. So now most of the back halves don't line up with the front halves and the front part doesn't have an aisle number sign. I have no idea how often I have to direct customers to where the coffee is now based on say either the refrigerated beer aisle or in reference to the chip aisle or some other easily recognized landmark.

Oh and don't forget they complaining about how we're always moving stuff and they can never find what they're looking for. Lady, they finished the reset 6 months ago, except for occasional extra displays that item hasn't moved

"You used to have this here!" Is something I get at my grocery store job a lot in reference to a certain shelf. Apparently that change happened months before I was hired and it's been months since then. How often do these people shop for groceries that a change made nearly a year ago is new to them?

Ahhh, yep. My roommate works there, too. I was doing a year of vegetarian eating when they did that, and it made it really hard to find my food for a while. I still haven't figured out where the fruit leather got moved to.

I’ve worked for that office retail chain I bet. I actually did have to tell a customer that we really were out of the things the store was named for. They were not amused.

They’ve tried the “no aisle number” garbage before, at least in my district. It sucked. But at least it wasn’t near the holidays.

Back when we had mystery shoppers, we had some asshat do a mystery shop on Christmas Eve. Tech (department was called Business Machines back then) got a zero. My associate said he was surrounded by needy customers all day. He couldn’t have approached a customer if he’d wanted to.

I bet this "no aisle numbers" idea was what got them promoted in the first place.

This reminds me of the book Catch 22, in that some general would come up with an absurd and borderline psychotic idea to impress the other generals, but it showed a complete disconnect with what was actually happening on the battlefield. And ultimately, it would literally drive the front-line officers to insanity.

In Catch 22 a Pilot is trying to get out on insanity charges, but he needs to be considered sane to fill out the forms to be declared insane.Now it is used to mean an 'impossible/deadlocked' situation.

Your GM is an idiot. As a customer I'd be very frustrated. When I go to a store like yours I am looking for a specific item and don't want to be 'upsold'. Add in that I've worked retail so I really don't want to bother any of you folks more than absolutely necessary.

Any time a customer asks for something, you should page the new GM to walk them to the product. When he starts asking why, tell him that all the other associates are busy and because you're short staffed, and there are no aisle numbers, you need him to help this customer. Then tell the customer they are getting the very best help from the store manager himself! I guarantee, as customers start asking him for discounts because he's the store manager, he'll get tired of it and give the aisle numbers back.

If it doesn't work just make sure you point out the customer survey to everyone who is annoyed by the change and explain that it is really important that they register their annoyance that way. I don't think most people realize how powerful those surveys really are.

As a customer, that would drive me crazy. I don't need anyone to walk with me, thank you! Just point! Now you get to play the endcap game: "Ok, see the file folders? Go down on the left side of that aisle...pass the legal forms...you'll find your whatchmacallit"

It's company policy to walk people to product where I work. It's even one of our survey questions (did the employee walk you to the product). Sometimes the store tops out at 3 or 4 employees, but I've worked at a location where it's 1 employee plus a manager for hours.

It's not an uncommon policy in most places. But like OP said, when you're understaffed and have other things to do as well as other customers waiting to be helped it can get overwhelming. 9 times out of 10 just pointing is much more efficient.

Not gonna lie, as a customer as well this would annoy the crap out of me. The idea of having to constantly go to an employee to ask where somewhere that could be easily marked is a huge waste of both of our times.

As a customer, I wouldn’t want the supermarket employees following me around honestly. It’s weird and I can’t imagine how much trouble it causes considering there is no way you can have enough staff to cover every person searching for something, and the counter and what not.

What about the socially awkward customers (like me) who would rather not be faced with trying to make small talk while being walked to wherever their item is? I already try to avoid having to even ask where something is in the first place as much as possible just because I don’t particularly enjoy awkward exchanges with strangers.

I always thought the walk people to the product thing is stupid. We had to do it when I worked for large office supply chain and large NE USA grocery store chain

The grocery store annoyed me the most. I shop by aisle. If I see an employee and am all "hey where's the chopped nuts?" I don't want to be walked to that aisle if it's 6 aisles over, because then I have to back track. Just give me an aisle number and general location.

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